


the heart is hard to translate

by hate_is_foolish_love_is_wise



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: And I love his bromance with Hook, David centric, F/M, Gen, I started this because there isn't enough stuff about the relationship between David and Emma, Mostly Canon Compliant, Takes place during and after 3x12
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 21:27:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19980766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hate_is_foolish_love_is_wise/pseuds/hate_is_foolish_love_is_wise
Summary: Emma pulls away from him, trying to hide the tears in her eyes, and isn’t that funny - he’s doing the same.





	the heart is hard to translate

David clutches Emma tight, seeing Snow squeezing Henry just as hard. This is their first goodbye with Henry - it is their second with Emma, and it is so much harder this time.

This time, David knows his little girl (his little girl who never got to be his little girl). She is everything he ever hoped she would be, even if he’s so, so sorry for the pain it took for her to get here. The first time, even if it was the hardest thing he ever had to do, he knew he was giving her her best chance. It was hard, but it was worth it. This time, he’s not so sure it’s worth it. He doesn’t know if any of them will be okay after this.

Emma pulls away from him, trying to hide the tears in her eyes, and isn’t that funny - he’s doing the same.

She looks at him and says, “Take care of her, please,” with calculated calmness.

“Always,” David promises, and it’s like a reflex — he will always take care of Snow, but he thought that maybe he would always be able to take care of Emma. And now, when it matters most, he can’t.

“Take care of Henry,” he returns, smiling slightly.

She almost smiles. Almost laughs.

“Always.”

Emma turns to walk away and he wants to grab her and hold her tight again but what good would that be? He has nothing else to say, no words of wisdom or comfort or bravery to offer.

He does it anyway, and Emma stiffens at first, unused to so many hugs. Then she sags, boneless in his arms, trembling just a little. He grips the back of her head and this time doesn’t try to hide the tears that are streaming down his face.

His little girl.

She pulls back again (because he will never be the one to jumpstart the process of letting her go again) and walks away, barely looking at him. He doesn’t take offense, he takes comfort. The two of them are more alike than Emma realizes - she’s dealing with saying goodbye in much the same way he is.

Snow comes to stand beside him as he watches Emma continue saying her goodbyes. Goodbye isn’t even a big enough word for this situation. These people all love Emma - and Henry - so much. There will never be a goodbye that could perfectly encapsulate all that Emma means to them.

David looks at Snow and knows she feels the same. He thinks of what Emma said to him: take care of her. And he will. He always will.

But who’s going to take care of him?

***

So. They’re back.

David can feel it — he can certainly feel the itchy doublet he’s suddenly wearing, but it’s more than that. The air here is crisper. Cleaner. More… magical. Or, at least it used to feel magical. Now it just feels like loss. Now it’s just another thing to highlight the fact that they are home, but not really, because Emma and Henry aren’t here. And home is them.

David takes a deep breath (which doesn’t really help) and looks to his left, where Snow stands. They had been holding hands when the fog had hit, but now she is standing slightly apart from him, staring into the distance. The pain on her face reflects his own, as it always has. Him and Snow always had so much love to give — they poured it into each other, and then into Emma, and Henry, and even a little bit into Regina and Hook. Him and Snow are not whole without each other, they never have been; now they’re not whole without Emma.

He takes the few brief steps that will bring him close enough to grab her hand, which he does. He grabs it and he holds on tight and squeezes. Words aren’t needed. That squeeze says everything: I know. I feel the same. We share this loss. I know. I know. I know.

It is a small comfort. But still, it is a comfort.

***

Hook (Killian, perhaps? He’s certainly proven himself to be a good man) is planning to leave. David doesn’t know why that bothers him, but it does. Him and Killian are friends, almost. Everyone in their group had ended up with a surprising sense of camaraderie after Neverland, but David had been most surprised by the fact that he enjoyed bantering with Hook. He had been surprised to learn about Killian’s brother, and his past. And then he had been angry with himself. He’d been trying to protect Emma out of some misplaced notion that he could still be the father he wanted to be — but she was grown and didn’t need or want his overbearing protection. And he had judged Killian too harshly; he had forgotten that evil isn’t born, but made, and that heroes are heroes because they give second chances. He wonders if anyone has ever offered Killian a second chance before.

David shakes himself. That doesn’t matter. What matters is that Killian is about to jump on a horse and leave because he is heartbroken about Emma, and David doesn’t want that.

“Killian,” he says sharply, causing the reformed pirate to glare at him, “Running won’t make the pain go away.”

Killian’s face slips, just barely, before he tries to cover it up with a sneer. “I don’t run, mate, so I have no idea to what you are referring.”

“You’re hurting about Emma. I get it. God knows I get it. But there are people here who can help make that better. I wouldn’t survive this without Snow-”

“Well, I don’t have your lovely wife, now do I?” Killian cuts in.

David sighs. “I know you think that without Emma you have no reason to stay with us. But I can tell you that’s not true. We take family very seriously, you know. I’m not about to lose someone else after just losing Emma and Henry. So stick around. We work better together — or don’t you remember Neverland?”

Killian looks lost for words for a second, before he recovers, as usual. “As I recall, we were successful in Neverland because Emma forced us together.”

“Yes, and Emma isn’t here,” and both are them are wincing, “but we still are. She showed us that we could work together, that we could get along. That we could maybe even be friends. What do you say we make her proud and prove that we can do that even without her to constantly yell at us?”

Killian just stares at him, brows furrowed, and David turns to go.

“Mate.”

David turns. “Yes, pirate?” he says, trying not to sound too fond or too hopeful.

“How far is it to your famed castle?” is all Killian asks. And David smiles.

***

“Emma saved me,” Killian slurs drunkenly one night. It was a long day of council meetings and half-baked plans to take on the Wicked Witch, though David admits that he wouldn’t count Regina out just yet. She’s determined to take down her evil sister.

“Emma’s saved everyone,” David mumbles back, trying to lighten the mood. “She’s the damn Savior.”

“No,” Killian replies with sudden venom. “She didn’t break some stupid curse upon me. She… gave me purpose. She gave me purpose just by being herself. And I never… I never thought, after Milah…” He trails off.

David’s shock relieves the effects of the drink a bit. Hook isn’t usually so talkative, even when drunk. And David can’t help but return his honesty in kind.

“She saved me too,” he says, staring into his cup. “And I’m not talking about the Curse, though I am grateful for that. From the moment I knew Snow was pregnant, I knew that I would do anything for that baby. And I did. But I never knew it was the right thing, until we met her again, all grown up. How could I doubt that it was the right thing when I saw how beautiful, how strong, how kind she was? Seeing her again made it worth it, in a way. She gives me hope, too, just by being herself.”

David hadn’t meant to say quite so much, but it’s out there now, and Killian is staring at him, looking contemplative.

“Why were you so insistent that I come back here, with all you?” he asks, barely sounding drunk at all anymore.

“Well, I was sparing the ships you would have robbed if you took to the seas again,” David jokes.

“David.”

He hesitates. “Because… Emma isn’t here.”

“And what, I’m a replacement for her? You’re bloody insane, mate-”

“Emma isn’t here,” David chokes out, startling Killian into silence. “So I’m… I’m trying to surround myself with people who love her. You love her. It doesn’t make it easier, but it means that I won’t forget anything about her. I can trust you, more than anyone, to never forget anything about Emma.”

A pause.

“That’s rather sappy, mate.”

“Shut up, pirate,” David returns, as they both take a swig from their drinks to hide the wetness in their eyes.

Neither of them see Snow at the door.

***

“David,” she murmurs the next night as they prepare for bed. He hums in response, mind still on their plans for the Wicked Witch.

“David,” she says again, tone a little firmer. He knows to listen when she uses this voice, the voice that’s filled with the force of her love and a little bit of the queen in her, so he looks up, holds her eyes.

“I heard you and Killian talking last night,” she says gently, smiling slightly when he looks flabbergasted. “Seems like your battle senses are dimming in your old age.”

“Snow....” he replies, feeling almost guilty.

“It’s okay,” she says immediately, understanding the look on his face. “I’m glad you and Killian are friends. And what you said, about Emma… I miss her, too. More than… more than words can say. I don’t feel whole without her.”

David crosses to her in two quick strides and cups her face with both hands, letting out a sigh. “I should have known that you, the other half of my heart, would always understand what I was feeling better than anyone. I was trying to be strong for you, I suppose.”

Snow lets out a watery chuckle. “My love,” she says, looking at him with that expression that always makes him realize just how much he loves her, “we’re supposed to be strong for each other. We take care of each other. We’re going to get through this because we have each other.”

David kisses her (briefly, because he knows that once he starts it’s hard to stop) and pulls back. “You’re so much wiser than me.”

“You make me better,” Snow replies, completely sincere. “And… Emma made us better. Even though she’s not here, we have to stay strong. For her,” she finishes, her voice breaking slightly. Pretty words don’t help to ease the pain much, but for now, words and assurances are all they have.

“We’ll find her again,” David promises, suddenly sure of it. All his thoughts about failing as a father are drifting away as he smiles at his wife. The pain doesn’t vanish, but the weight on his chest eases just slightly. He will accept that Emma is gone — for now. But he will never stop believing that he will see her again.

“After all,” he says, smiling down at Snow, seeing faint hope in her eyes, “our family always finds each other.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from All This and Heaven Too by Florence + the Machine.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed.


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